Natural hazards · Hot Springs

Hot Springs, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Hot Springs comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1988. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Hot Springs?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Hot Springs to be higher than in 78% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding65%Wildfire11%Cold waves7%Tornadoes6%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Hot Springs faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

65% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Wildfire

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 57% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 58% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 93 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesDroughtTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Hot Springs flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Hot Springs, from FEMA’s records.

1paid claims since 1988

$25paid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19882026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Hot Springs isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Fall River County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

5flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Hot Springs

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Hot Springs itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Hot Springs.

Brought FEMA money into Hot SpringsDeclared for Fall River County only

2025

Straight-Line Winds

$57K to the City of Hot Springs for repairs

2015

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$7K to the City of Hot Springs for repairs

2013

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$104K to the City of Hot Springs for repairs

2010

Severe Storms and Flooding

$47K to the City of Hot Springs for repairs

2000

Severe Winter Storm, Flooding, Landslides and Mudslides

$16K to the City of Hot Springs for repairs

Fall River County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Hot Springs is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Hot Springs’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Hot Springs. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.